01 


PROFESSOR  GREEN'S   SERMON. 


SERMON 


BY    THE 


REV.    W.    HENRY    GREEN,   D.  D., 

PROFESSOR  IN  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY,   PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


ON    SABBATH    EVENING,    MAY    5,    1861, 


IN    BEHALF    OF 


THE  BOABD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS  OF  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 


Published  at  the  re  quasi  of  the  executive  Committee  of  the  72oard. 


NEW    YORK: 

EDWARD     O.    JENKINS,    PRINTER, 

20  NORTH  WILLIAM  STREET. 
1861. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/serhenrOOgree 


SERMON 


ISAIAH  xlix.  3. 
"  Thou  art  my  servant,  0  Israel,  in  whom  I  will  be  glorified." 

A  new  torrent  of  emotions  is  rushing  through  the  American 
heart.  The  inexorable  logic  of  events  has  thrust  before  us  the 
ruin  of  our  beloved  country  as  a  contingency  that  is  possible, 
perhaps  even  probable,  and  at  our  very  doors. 

The  occurrences  of  the  last  few  weeks  have  prepared  us  to 
appreciate  better  than  we  could  have  done  before  the  feelings 
awakened  in  a  devout  Jew  by  the  prediction  of  the  coming 
Babylonish  exile.  It  was  not  only  his  patriotism  which  was 
touched  by  the  ruin  coming  on  his  country,  but  his  religious 
emotions  were  stirred  to  their  very  depths.  His  patriotism  was 
entwined  with  his  religion.  The  land  that  he  loved  was  the 
Lord's  land.  The  nation  to  which  he  belonged  had  been  chosen 
by  God  from  all  the  families  of  mankind  to  be  his  peculiar  peo- 
ple. It  was  their  mission  to  perpetuate  and  to  spread  through- 
out the  world  the  knowledge  of  the  true  religion,  and  thus  all 
nations  were  to  be  blessed  in  them.  Jerusalem,  the  royal 
capital,  was  the  city  of  the  great  King,  where  he  had  fixed  his 
earthly  dwelling-place :  it  was  the  only  spot  on  earth  where 
those  atoning  sacrifices  could  be  offered,  by  which  God  was  pro- 
pitiated, and  which  were  permanent  types  and  pledges  of  the 
future  more  perfect  sacrifice.  And  now  shall  Israel  be  cast  off, 
the  holy  land  be  ravaged,  Jerusalem  destroyed,  and  the  temple 
burned  I     Are  then  God's  purposes  of  grace  annulled  ?     Is  the 


end  of  Israel's  existence  defeated  ?  And  are  the  glorious  hopes 
which  had  been  indulged,  of  blessings  to  come  forth  from  them 
upon  the  world,  doomed  to  sudden  and  bitter  disappointment. 

The  prophet  meets  and  answers  these  gloomy  apprehensions 
in  the  text.  Israel  has  been  guilty,  and  a  period  of  severe 
chastisement  and  trial  is  before  him.  But  God  has  not  forsaken 
him,  nor  are  the  ancient  promises  forgotten.  The  Lord  still  says 
to  his  sinful,  suffering  people,  and  may  he  in  his  sovereign  grace 
vouchsafe  a  like  word  of  mercy  to  our  own  afflicted  land,  "  Thou 
art  my  servant,  O  Israel,  in  whom  I  will  be  glorified." 

It  is  obvious  that  these  words  of  consolation  and  encourage- 
merit  contain  nothing  of  a  local  or  temporary  nature.  They 
are  not  directed  exclusively,  nor  even  peculiarly  to  that 
particular  distress,  which  gave  occasion  to  their  utterance,  but 
are  equally  adapted  to  every  similar  source  of  disquietude  or 
anxiety  that  may  disturb  the  people  of  God.  They  describe 
the  divinely  ordained  mission  of  God's  chosen  people,  and  that 
is  a  fact  for  all  time.  If  we  were  to  confine  our  attention  on 
the  one  hand  to  the  Church's  want  of  fidelity  to  the  trust  com- 
mitted to  her,  her  worldliness,  her  feeble  faith,  her  flagging  zeal, 
her  intestine  strifes,  her  imperfect  consecration  and  the  low  state 
of  her  piety ;  or,  on  the  other  hand,  to  her  weakness  as  compared 
with  the  obstacles  in  her  way,  the  vastness  of  the  work  to  be 
performed,  or  the  power  of  those  agencies  and  influences  which 
are  hostile  to  her  welfare  and  her  progress,  we  might  easily  give 
way  to  despondency  and  feel  as  though  the  world's  salvation 
could  never  be  achieved  by  such  an  incompetent  and  unworthy 
instrument.  In  fact,  we  can  only  escape  this  conclusion  by  di- 
recting our  eyes  to  some  such  ground  of  confidence  as  that  con- 
tained in  the  text,  which  is  independent  of  all  external  circum- 
stances, which  rests  not  upon  the  constancy  or  the  efficiency  of 
the  Church,  but  is  based  entirely  upon  the  changeless  purpose 
of  an  unchanging  God.  With  this  view  let  us  turn  our  thoughts 
to  lliis  universal  antidote  to  discouragement  in  the  work  in  which 
the  ( Ihurch  is  engaged. 


I.  The  first  consideration  which  presents  itself,  is  that  the  Church 
has  been  taken  by  God  into  his  service.  "  Thou  art  my  servant, 
O  Israel."  This  carries  with  it  a  sure  pledge  of  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  task,  whatever  it  be,  to  which  the  Church  is  ap- 
pointed. If  the  Church  had  undertaken  some  work  of  her  own 
motion,  the  case  would  be  different.  We  would  then  have  to 
weigh  carefully  the  reasons  for  and  against  her  success.  It 
would  be  a  question,  whether  she  with  her  ten  thousand  could 
meet  and  vanquish  the  enemy  that  comes  against  her  with 
twenty  thousand, — whether  she  contains  within  herself  a  strength 
and  resources  adequate  to  the  enterprise.  But  if  she  is  in  the 
service  of  the  Almighty,  and  not  working  on  her  own  account, 
these  considerations  are  irrelevant  and  vain.  The  workman  is 
furnished  with  means  and  facilities  by  his  employer.  If  a  palace 
be  building,  the  question  of  its  completion  rests  not  upon  the 
scanty  resources  of  the  laborers  engaged,  but  upon  the  wealth 
of  the  royal  treasury.  They  who  do  the  work  of  God  are 
privileged  and  expected  to  draw  upon  his  inexhaustible  supplies. 
Whatever  the  task  he  has  appointed  them,  he  will  provide  all 
that  is  requisite  for  its  accomplishment.  It  is  his  power  and 
grace  which  are  pledged  for  the  issue. 

If,  again,  it  was  in  some  self-devised  method  that  the  Church 
was  undertaking  to  accomplish  her  divinely-appointed  end,  the 
advancement  of  the  glory  of  God  and  of  the  welfare  of  man, 
there  would  be  a  question  as  to  the  wisdom  of  her  measures  and 
the  feasibility  of  her  schemes.  The  grandeur  of  the  undertak- 
ing is  no  sufficient  guaranty  of  success.  Her  splendid  concep- 
tions might  issue  in  ignoble  failure,  because  the  right  method 
was  not  taken  to  carry  them  into  execution.  But  if  she  is 
working  upon  a  scheme  of  God's  devising,  if  his  infinite  mind 
has  contrived  the  plan,  and  she  does  what  she  does  at  his  bid- 
ding, and  under  his  direction,  the  weakness  of  her  understand- 
ing can  be  no  argument  of  want  of  success. 

Furthermore,  if  the  Church  is  the  Lord's  servant,  working  out 
his  ideas  and  not  her  own,  then,  and  then  only  can  she  be  cer- 


tain  that  what  she  is  doing  is  in  harmony  with  his  universal 
plan.  God  is  the  supreme  director  of  all  things.  He  guides  or 
controls  the  movements  of  all  his  creatures,  so  that  they  com- 
bine to  effect  his  predestined  end.  All  things  work  together 
to  bring  about  what  he  has  purposed.  This  is  not  only  to  be 
regarded  as  the  certain  resultant  of  conflicting  forces  operating 
in  the  sphere  of  the  world  or  of  the  universe:  as  though  some 
were  favorable  and  others  adverse,  yet  the  latter  should  be 
overbalanced  by  the  former.  But  every  thing  that  occurs  con- 
spires to  urge  forward  God's  grand  design.  There  is  nothing, 
and  there  can  be  nothing,  which  is,  properly  speaking,  adverse 
to  it.  That  which  so  appears  to  our  narrow  vision,  would,  if  we 
could  take  a  more  comprehensive  view,  be  seen  to  enter  as  a 
constituent  into  the  plan,  and  to  contribute  its  quota  to  the 
general  design.  Now,  if  the  plan  upon  which  the  Church  is 
engaged  is  God's  plan,  then  it  is  certainly  in  harmony  with  his 
universal  scheme :  it  will  fit  in  with  the  rest  of  his  glorious  de- 
signs, and  the  whole  momentum  of  this  divine  machinery  is 
given  to  propel  it  forward.  On  the  other  hand,  any  plan  not  in 
accordance  with  this  grand  universal  scheme  must  inevitably  be 
thwarted,  for  it  runs  counter  to  movements  which  God  has  in- 
stituted ;  and  it  relies  for  its  strength  and  support  upon  mate- 
rials which  the  Creator  designs  to  subserve  a  totally  different 
end  from  that  to  which  it  would  turn  them. 

Then,  too,  if  God  has  selected  the  Church  to  be  his  servant 
in  a  given  work,  this  is  because  she  is  or  shall  be  made  a  fit  in- 
strument for  what  he  designs  her  to  do.  For  every  function  to 
be  performed  in  nature  he  has  an  appropriate  agent,  which  ac- 
complishes precisely  what  it  was  intended  to  accomplish.  It  is 
the  same  in  the  moral  and  spiritual  world.  lb1  selects  his  own 
instruments  and  they  are  just  the  ones  for  his  purpose.  His 
ways,  h  is  true,  are  not  as  our  ways,  nor  his  thoughts  as  our 
thoughts.  If  we  had  been  called  upon  to  choose  an  agency  for 
spreading  the  -"-pel  over  the  earth,  we  certainly  would  never 
thought  of  selecting  one  which  would  slumber  over  its 


task  as  the  Church  lias  clone,  or  which  would  be  chargeable  with 
such  criminal  inconsistencies  and  such  shameful  neglects  of  duty. 
And  yet  these  blots  upon  the  Church,  though  they  may  well 
cover  her  with  confusion,  so  far  from  defeating  God's  design,  or 
proving  that  so  incompetent  an  instrument  must  hinder  its  ac- 
complishment, only  show  how  comprehensive  that  design  must 
be,  that  he  should  make  choice  of  such  an  instrument  to  effect 
it.  If  nothing  more  were  to  be  done  than  to  send  the  gospel 
over  the  earth,  this  could  be  brought  about  much  more  speedily 
than  by  our  laggard  efforts,  It  would  be  a  profitable  though 
humbling  task  to  search  out  those  enlarged  views  of  the  design 
of  God,  which  are  suggested  by  his  selection  of  so  weak 
and  sinful  an  agent  as  the  one  best  suited  to  accomplish  it.  As- 
suredly it  stains  all  human  pride  and  glorying,  and  reveals  the 
magnitude  of  the  work  of  salvation,  and  renders  the  ultimate 
triumph  of  sovereign  grace  more  illustrious. 

Nevertheless,  this  inevitably  follows.  The  plan  of  God  in  the 
salvation  of  men  cannot  be  defeated  by  the  unfaithfulness  or  the 
incompetency  of  the  Church  as  his  instrument  in  spreading  the 
gospel.  Because  her  seeming  unsuitableness,  sinful  and  inexcus- 
able as  it  is,  is  really  part  of  her  fitness,  when  the  full  compre- 
hensiveness of  God's  plan  is  regarded.  He  selected  the  Church, 
knowing  precisely  what  she  was  and  would  be,  to  be  his  servant, 
and  nothing  can  ever  occur  to  disprove  the  wisdom  of  this  choice. 

II.  The  great  distinction  of  this  servant  of  God  is  stated  to 
be  this :  "  Thou  art  my  servant,  O  Israel,  in  whom  I  will  be 
glorified."  God  has  a  multitude  of  servants,  each  of  whom  is 
employed  upon  his  appropriate  work ;  and  the  work  of  Israel  is 
to  promote  God's  glory.  The  glory  of  God  is  indeed  the  end  of 
all  things ;  every  one  of  his  servants  labours  for  that  result,  For 
his  glory  they  are  and  were  created.  The  entire  material  uni- 
verse is  his  servant;  and  every  part  of  it  shows  forth  his  great- 
ness and  wisdom,  and  illustrates  the  majesty  of  the  divine 
perfections.  His  glory  covers  the  heavens,  and  the  earth  is  full 
of  his  praise.     All  the  rational  creatures  that  he  has  made, 


8 

from  the  lowest  to  the  highest  grade,  whether  they  have  re- 
tained or  have  cast  off  their  allegiance,  contribute  spontan- 
eous or  reluctant  tribute  to  the  great  Monarch  of  all.  And 
yet  the  Lord  here  says  not  of  this  wonderful  creation,  not  of 
mankind  as  a  whole,  not  even  of  the  holy  angels  reflecting  his 
resplendent  brightness,  and  prompt  to  execute  his  will,  but  of 
Israel,  aThou  art  my  servant,  in  whom  I  will  be  glorified." 
He  it  is  to  whom  especially  this  grand  function  of  glorifying 
God  has  been  committed.  He  so  far  outdoes  all  others  in  this 
respect  as  completely  to  eclipse  them,  and  to  be  the  only  one 
worthy  of  mention. 

And  this  justifies  the  tacit  assumption  already  made,  that  the 
Israel  of  the  text  is  not  the  carnal  but  the  spiritual  Israel.  It 
is  not  the  natural  descendants  of  Abraham  but  his  spiritual 
seed,  who  constitute  the  people  of  God,  who  are  the  heirs  of  the 
promises,  and  to  whom  he  has  entrusted  the  work  of  manifest- 
ing his  glory.  The  Church  of  Christ  is  the  true  Israel  of  God, 
in  whom  the  vital  succession  is  maintained.  "  If  ye  be  Christ's," 
says  the  apostle,  Gal.  iii.  29,  "then  are  ye  Abraham's  seed." 
And  to  the  unbelieving  Jews  our  Lord  denied  the  right  to  claim 
descent  from  Abraham,  saying  to  them  (John  viii.  39),  "  If  ye 
were  Abraham's  children,  ye  would  do  the  works  of  Abraham/1 
It  is  not  the  dead  branches  but  the  living  grafts  which  perpet- 
uate the  tree. 

The  Church  is  thus  God's  chief  agent  for  glorifying  him,  be- 
cause it  is  her  peculiar  prerogative  to  spread  the  gospel  of  his 
grace,  and  win  all  nations  to  the  obedience  of  the  faith.  His 
justice  and  power  are  manifested  elsewhere ;  it  is  hers  to  promote 
the  triumphs  of  his  love.  Others  may  uphold  the  integrity  of 
his  empire,  or  act  the  part  of  loyal  and  obedient  subjects;  it 
belongs  to  her  to  extend  that  empire,  to  win  revolted  provinces 
back  to  their  allegiance,  to  establish  liis  reign  in  unknown  mul- 
titudes of  human  hearts  which  had  refused  submission  to  his 
authority.  The  most  precious  tilings  that  the  universe  contains 
are  rational  and  immortal  spirits.     The  highest  tribute  of  praise 


that  God  can  receive  is  the  willing,  adoring,  loving  homage  paid 
him  by  such  spirits,  which  have  surrendered  themselves  to  the 
impression  of  his  greatness  and  his  grace.  And  the  most  glorious 
achievement  of  the  Godhead  is  the  transformation  of  such  spirits 
from  sin  and  ruin  to  holiness  and  everlasting  salvation.  In  this 
work,  upon  which  God  himself  sets  so  high  a  value,  the  Church 
is  called  to  cooperate.  We  are  nowhere  informed  that  even  the 
most  exalted  of  God's  creatures  has  ever  taken  part  in  the  cre- 
ating of  the  smallest  material  thing.  But  in  the  new  spiritual 
creation,  which  so  far  transcends  the  old  creation  of  material 
things  that  it  is  declared  the  former  heavens  and  earth  shall  not 
be  remembered,  nor  come  into  mind,  the  Church  enjoys  the  rare 
distinction  of  being  a  labourer  together  with  God. 

And  while  the  Church  alone  thus  labours  directly  for  the  fur- 
therance of  this  cherished  work  of  God,  the  highest  honour  put 
upon  other  agencies  is  that  of  ministering  to  her.  All  things  are 
hers,  and  all  may  be  laid  under  contribution  by  her  for  the  pro- 
motion of  the  work  in  which  she  is  engaged.  They  are  the 
Tyrian  workmen,  to  furnish  and  transport  the  materials,  to  hew 
down  the  cedars  and  to  quarry  out  the  stone,  while  she  builds  of 
them  a  temple  for  the  Lord.  The  material  resources  of  nature, 
the  culture  and  civilization  of  the  world,  the  discoveries  of  science, 
the  elegancies  of  art,  the  refinements  of  literature,  may  all  be 
turned  by  her  to  good  account.  Statesmen  at  the  helm  of  gov- 
ernment, the  artisan  in  his  shop,  the  merchant  at  the  mart  of 
trade,  the  philosopher  in  his  chamber :  all,  in  fact,  who  are  doing 
anything  toward  the  accumulation  of  material,  intellectual,  or 
moral  wealth,  are  preparing  what  the  Church  may  convert,  as 
she  did  the  spoils  extorted  from  Egypt  and  the  gifts  spontane- 
ously offered  by  Cyrus,  to  her  own  high  and  holy  purposes.  It 
is  even  a  part  of  the  vocation  of  the  angels  to  minister  to  the 
future  heirs  of  salvation.  And  thus  the  Church  fulfils  her  priestly 
office.  She  takes  the  offerings  of  the  universe,  and  presents  them 
unto  God,  an  odour  of  a  sweet  smell,  a  sacrifice  acceptable,  well- 
pleasing  to  him. 


10 

III.  But  Israel  must  not  be  considered  apart  from  him,  who 
descended  from  the  patriarchs  and  belonging  to  the  line  of  the 
chosen  people,  was  the  one  in  whom  all  the  hopes  of  the  nation 
had  centred  from  the  beginning  and  by  whom  its  divinely  given 
commission  was  mainly  to  be  fulfilled,  the  one  magnificent 
flower  for  whose  sake  this  rude  and  thorny  plant  had  been  for 
ages  so  assiduously  cultivated.  Jesus  Christ  came  of  the  stock 
of  Abraham.  He  was  an  Israelite.  It  was  for  him  and  unto 
him  that  Israel  had  been  chosen,  preserved  and  trained.  Israel 
without  Christ  would  be  a  people  without  a  purpose,  and  their 
existence  would  be  unmeaning,  for  every  thing  that  distinguished 
them  was  involved  in  his  appearing.  Every  idea  that  they  had 
of  their  destiny,  all  that  is  revealed  of  God's  designs  respecting 
them  or  of  what  he  would  accomplish  through  them,  was  con- 
ditioned upon  him.  The  Redeemer,  who  should  arise  out  of 
Israel,  was  the  pole  star  of  his  confidence  in  the  darkest 
times,  as  well  as  the  radiant  point  in  every  prophetic  pic- 
ture. It  was  to  him  in  every  age  the  assured  pledge  of  his 
security,  and  the  basis  of  his  trust  for  all  that  was  to  be  desired 
in  the  future.  Israel  without  the  Messiah  would  be  in  his  own 
esteem  a  negation  and  a  blank.  We  mi^ht  as  well  undertake  to 
consider  the  water  of  the  globe  and  leave  out  the  ocean,  or  to 
study  the  solar  system  and  forget  the  sun. 

That  in  the  intention  of  the  text  Israel  is  inclusive  of  him, 
without  whom  Israel  would  be  nothing,  is  apparent  from  its 
terms ;  Israel  severed  from  the  Messiah  is  not  the  servant  in 
whom  God  will  be  glorified.  It  is  apparent  from  the  connexion  ; 
[srae]  is  God's  servant  to  bring  Jacob  again  to  him.  A  distinc- 
tion is  here  unavoidable  between  Israel  as  the  agent  and  Israel 
as  the  object  in  this  work  of  restoration  to  God,  which  proves 
that  prominent  reference  must  be  had  in  the  former  instance  to 
Mi  ssiah  a-  the  one  from  whom  this  process  of  salvation  was  to 
proceed. 

It  is  further  apparent  from  the  method  of  the  prophet  in  this 
entire  portion  <>f  liis  hook.     From  the  time  that  he  announced 


11 

to  Hezekiak  tlie  certain  coming  of  the  Babylonish}  exile,  he 
addresses  himself  to  the  work  of  comforting  the  people  of  God 
in  the  prospect  of  this  great  calamity.  And  he  does  this  by 
showing  them  how  Israel  was  identified  with  Messiah  in  his 
work,  his  sufferings  and  his  reward.  Israel,  it  is  true,  is  destined 
to  unexampled  humiliation  and  trial ;  but  he  must  not  despond 
as  though  God  had  forsaken  him.  It  is  through  humiliation  and 
sorrow — yes,  though  the  vicarious  endurance  of  an  innocent 
sufferer  that  the  work  of  the  world's  salvation  and  of  Israel's 
glory  is  to  be  achieved.  Messiah  is  here  viewed  as  a  component 
part  of  Israel;  He  is  united  with  Israel  under  the  common 
designation  of  the  servant  of  the  Lord,  being  the  one  in  fact  who 
undertakes  and  who  fulfils  the  service  for  which  the  chosen 
people  had  been  ordained.  The  whole  argument  of  consolation 
is  without  force  unless  Messiah  shares  Israel's  burdens,  assumes 
his  task  and  accomplishes  his  destiny.  He,  who  is  elsewhere 
represented  as  the  King  of  Israel,  his  avenger  and  deliverer  from 
his  foes,  is  here  one  with  Israel,  flesh  of  his  flesh  and  bone  of  his 
bone,  bears  his  griefs,  performs  his  service  and  wins  for  him  a 
glorious  recompense  of  joy. 

This  view  of  the  word  u  Israel "  as  embracing  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  which  is  thus  so  natural  in  itself,  so  necessary  in  the 
passage  before  us,  and  sanctioned  by  the  prophet  Isaiah  else- 
where, is  moreover  in  strict  accordance  with  other  scriptural 
analogies.  In  the  earliest  announcement  of  mercy,  lasting 
enmity  is  declared  between  the  seed  of  the  woman  and  the  seed 
of  the  serpent,  and  assurance  is  given  that  the  former  shall 
bruise  the  serpent's  head.  Alluding  to  this  the  apostle  Paul 
writes  to  believers,  Rom.  xvi.  20,  "The  God  of  peace  shall 
bruise  Satan  under  your  feet  shortly,"  The  victory  belongs  to 
all  the  sons  of  men  who  are  not  the  children  of  the  wicked  one  : 
but  how  could  it  ever  have  been  achieved,  had  not  Christ  been 
of  the  seed  of  the  woman  and  wrought  salvation  tor  us  { 

It  was  declared  to  Abraham  that  in  his  seed  all  the  families  of 
the  earth  should  be  blessed ;  but  how  would  his  seed  ever  have 


12 

been  tlie  bearers  of  blessing  to  mankind,  had  not  Christ  been  a 
son  of  Abraham  ? 

Jesus  said  to  the  woman  of  Samaria,  "  Salvation  is  of  the 
Jews ; "  but  how  could  salvation  have  come  from  them,  had  not 
Jesus  been  a  Jew  ? 

It  has  been  seen  that  Israel  in  the  text  is  not  to  be  considered 
apart  from  Christ ;  neither,  it  may  be  added,  is  Christ  to  be 
contemplated  in  it  exclusive  of  Israel  in  its  wider  and  proper 
sense.  Christ  as  the  servant  by  whom  God  is  to  be  glorified,  is 
one  with  his  people  by  as  indissoluble  a  bond,  as  Christ  the 
everglorious  God  is  one  with  the  Father  and  with  the  Holy 
Spirit.  Israel  embraces  Christ  by  the  law  of  natural  descent, 
Christ  is  linked  with  Israel  by  the  eternal  covenant  of  union 
and  by  the  vital  power  of  his  indwelling  spirit.  All  the  scrip- 
tural statements  and  the  scriptural  emblems  relating  to  this 
subject  convey  the  idea  of  an  inseparable  union,  an  indivisible 
oneness.  Thus  Christ  says  "  I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches." 
The  vine  and  the  branches  constitute  together  one  plant,  one 
organic  whole.  The  branches  cannot  be  produced  nor  live 
without  the  vine,  while  a  living  fruitful  vine  necessarily  supposes 
branches,  and  it  is  through  its  branches  and  by  means  of  the 
living  energy  which  it  supplies  to  them  that  it  bears  its  fruit. 
The  branches  owe  their  existence  to  the  vine,  are  dependent 
upon  it,  supported  by  it,  derive  from  it  their  life  and  fruitful- 
ness.  The  vine  stands  in  no  relation  of  dependence  to  its 
branches  ;  but  its  whole  aim  and  tendency  as  a  vine  is  toward 
the  production  of  branches,  and  through  them  it  realises  its  end 
the  bringing  forth  of  grapes. 

Again  Christ  is  the  head  and  his  Church  the  body.  The  head 
and  body  compose  one  indivisible  organism;  they  are  not  con- 
ceivable in  a  living  state  except  in  combination.  The  life  of 
the  head  pervades  the  body,  and  the  latter  stands  prepared  to 
execute  what  the  former  shall  devise.  So  too  there  cannot  be 
a  bridegroom  without  a  bride,  nor  vice  vers,). 

God's    believing  people   are  said  to  be  in  Christ  and  he  in 


13 

them ;  the  very  same  terms  being  employed  to  describe  this 
mysterious  union,  which  are  used  of  the  ineffable  relation  sub- 
sisting between  the  sacred  persons  of  the  Trinity  when  Christ 
says,  "  I  am  in  the  Father  and  the  Father  in  me."  And  such  is 
the  extraordinary  power  given  to  the  people  of  God  by  their 
oneness  writh  Christ  that  the  Saviour  himself  assures  us  with 
that  double  asseveration  which  is  coupled  with  many  of  his 
most  weighty  utterances,  "Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  he  that 
believeth  on  me,  the  works  that  I  do,  shall  he  do  also ;  and 
greater  works  than  these  shall  he  do."  Such,  even,  is  the  com- 
munity of  life  between  them  and  Christ  that  what  took  place  in 
him,  repeats  itself  in  them.  As  the  life  of  ancient  Israel 
imaged  forth  that  of  Christ,  so  that  of  Christ  images  itself 
afresh  in  his  people.  They  die  with  him,  are  buried  with  him, 
live  with  him,  rise  with  him,  even  their  mortal  bodies  are  raised 
by  his  spirit  dwelling  in  them.  In  fact  the  name  "  Christ  "  is  in 
one  passage  of  the  New  Testament  used  with  such  latitude  as 
to  embrace  the  Church  of  Christ  as  well  as  Christ  himself. 
1  Cor.  xii.  12,  "For  as  the  body  is  one  and  hath  many  mem- 
bers, and  all  the  members  of  that  one  body,  being  many,  are 
one  body :  so  also  is  Christ." 

If  the  views  now  presented  are  correct,  then  the  "  Israel "  of 
the  text  embraces  Christ,  with  all  his  elect  people  under  both 
dispensations.  This  is  the  servant  by  whom  God  is  to  be  glori- 
fied ;  and  what  glory  does  He  receive  from  the  universe  beside, 
comparable  to  that  which  arises  to  him  from  this  source  ?  The 
transcendent  glory  springing  from  the  work  of  redemption  in 
its  purchase  and  in  its  application,  in  its  methods  and  its  results, 
is  that  which  awakens  the  highest  admiration  of  the  intelligent 
creation,  and  shall  call  for  the  loudest  anthems  of  praise.  The 
Lord  Jesus  lays  the  firm  foundation  by  his  perfect  atonement, 
putting  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself,  and  bringing  in  an 
everlasting  righteousness  by  his  spotless  and  complete  obedience. 
The  obstacles  to  the  world's  salvation  are  thus  removed  out  of 
the  way,  and  an  effective  basis  laid  for  its  reconciliation  to  God. 


14 

The  realization  of  the  commission  given  to  the  Church,  to  per- 
petuate and  extend  the  true  knowledge  of  God  over  all  the  earth, 
is  thus  rendered  possible.  But  for  the  mediation  of  Christ,  our 
great  high  priest,  his  sacrifice  at  Calvary,  and  his  intercession 
in  the  most  holy  place,  there  could  have  been  no  restoration  of 
the  world,  nor  even  of  individual  men,  to  God.  Xow,  however, 
upon  the  basis  of  this  atonement,  the  Church  can  exercise  her 
priestly  office  of  mediating  the  salvation  of  the  world ;  she  can 
enter,  with  assured  hope  of  success,  ivpon  the  function  entrusted 
to  her,  of  recovering  this  lost  world  to  God. 

In  fulfilling  this  function,  however,  she  must  not  be  thought 
of  as  acting  independently  of  Christ,  as  though  he  laid  the  foun- 
dation, and  she,  without  further  aid,  reared  a  structure  upon  it. 
She  is  to  bring  forth  fruit,  fruit  that  shall  remain,  fruits  of  glory 
to  God ;  but  she  can  only  do  this  by  abiding  in  Christ.  It  is 
her  union  to  her  Head  which  gives  the  Church  her  efficiency  in 
glorifying  God  by  the  salvation  of  men.  In  estimating  her  al  rility 
to  execute  her  commission,  therefore,  we  must  not  regard  her  as 
a  simple  body  of  men,  banded  together  for  a  high  and  holy 
purpose,  and  animated  by  a  sacred  zeal.  Nor  must  we  seek  the 
secret  of  her  success  in  the  inherent  power  of  the  truth  which 
has  been  committed  to  her,  its  native  superiority  to  error,  its 
adaptation  to  the  wants  of  the  human  soul.  But  what  really 
distinguishes  the  Church,  and  makes  her  mighty  in  her  contest 
with  evil,  is  her  union  to  Christ  and  the  indwelling  of  his  Spirit. 
She  is  the  body  of  Christ,  in  every  part  instinct  with  his  life 
and  obedient  to  his  volitions.  He  guides  her  motions  and  directs 
her  acts.  These  are  his  members;  he  uses  them  as  his  living 
organs;  he  acts  through  them,  and  thus  carries  forward  his  work. 
It  is  an  arm  of  flesh,  but  it  is  wielded  by  omnipotence. 

It  is  only  what  the  Church  does,  therefore,  in  her  character  as 
the  body  of  Christ,  which  is  of  any  avail.  Enterprises  of  her 
own,  begun  without  him  and  not  conducted  by  him,  are  Bure  to 
fail.  Without  him  she  can  do  nothing.  But  she  can  <\o  all 
things  when  he  strengthen-  her.     Acting  under  his  direction, 


15 

her  faith,  can  remove  mountains ;  obstacles  are  of  no  account ; 
nothing  can  impede  her  progress  or  delay  her  triumph.  What 
can  hinder  the  salvation  of  the  world,  if  it  be  Christ's  right  arm 
which  is  put  forth  to  accomplish  it  ? 

IV.  The  text  supplies  us  with  yet  another  argument  for  the 
conversion  of  the  world  to  God.  The  Israel  who  is  here  ad- 
dressed and  in  whom  God  declares  that  he  will  be  glorified  em- 
braces all  his  people  in  every  age.  We  have  already  seen  that 
this  term  may  not  be  confined  to  the  people  of  God  before  the 
appearance  of  Christ  in  the  flesh  to  the  exclusion  of  his  people 
since  that  time,  but  that  it  embraces  the  Church  of  both  dis- 
pensations, which  is  in  reality  one  and  the  same,  continued  in 
one  unbroken  line  of  succession.  Neither  may  we  stop  at  any 
other  arbitrary  limit  and  restrict  the  meaning  of  Israel  to  the 
people  of  God  up  to  that  point  of  time  and  excluding  those 
beyond  it.  We  may  not  Hx  upon  the  present  as  our  limit  and 
say  that  the  Israel  here  spoken  of  denotes  all  who  have  thus 
far  yielded  allegiance  to  the  King  of  kings  and  numbered 
themselves  among  the  followers  of  Christ.  All  who  are  yet  to 
partake  of  the  blessings  of  redemption  belong  to  God's  Israel. 
They  lie  scattered  up  and  down  among  the  nations  in  their 
estrangement  from  God,  and  suffering  the  oppression  of  the 
enemy.  They  are  to  be  restored  from  all  their  dispersions, 
brought  back  to  God's  love  and  favour,  and  united  to  the  com- 
monwealth of  Israel  to  which  they  properly  belong.  The 
natural  descendants  of  the  patriarchs,  who  have  sold  their  birth- 
right and  alienated  themselves  from  their  inheritance,  and 
severed  themselves  from  the  stock  of  Abraham  belong  never, 
theless  prospectively  to  his  seed.  They  shall  one  day  become 
Jews  indeed,  and  for  this  reason  in  spite  of  their  excision  and 
their  blindness,  they  come  within  the  scope  of  this  sacred  name 
of  Israel.  Mahommedans  and  pagans  and  those  afar  from  God 
in  nominally  Christian  lands  are  also  for  the  same  reason  and  to 
the  same  extent  to  be  included.  And  thus  Abraham  shall  be 
the  heir  of  the  world,  the  father  of  many  nations.     Israel  shall 


16 

successively  absorb  all  the  families  of  mankind.  This  is  the 
Israel  contemplated  by  the  spirit  of  prophecy  as  God's  servant 
in  whom  he  is  to  be  glorified. 

As  surely  then  as  God's  own  people  shall  be  gathered  to  him, 
shall  the  world  be  saved.     The  Church  goes  not  forth  to  labour 
upon  a  doubtful  enterprise  and  in  an  unknown  field.     Her  task 
is  simply  to  reclaim  her  own  scattered  members.     She  is  not  to 
force  her  way  amongst  aliens,  but  to  recover  her  sons.      Every- 
where God's  hidden  ones  are  found.     They  are  strewn  on  every 
plain.     They  are  on  the  mountains  and  in  the  valleys,  in  the 
heart  of  the  continents  and  upon  the  islands  of  the  sea.     They 
mingle  with  the  surging  masses  that  crowd  the  streets  of  densely 
populated  cities,  and  they  occupy  secluded  hamlets  far  from  the 
busy  haunts  of  men.     They  roam  with  savage  tribes  in  uncultiv- 
ated wilds,  and  they  have  their  settled  habitation  in  ancient  em- 
pires.    They  are  dispersed  through  every  zone  from  the  burning 
tropics  to  the  frozen  poles.     She  has  but  to  search  them  out  and 
they  will  flock  to  her  standard.     She  cannot  conduct  her  search 
amiss.     In  every  quarter  she  will  meet  and  recognize  her  own. 
And  thus  shall  be  gathered  that  great  multitude,  which  no  man 
can  number,   of    all    nations,    and  kindreds,    and  people,   and 
tongues,  who  shall  join  themselves   to  Israel.     This  is  God's 
servant,  this  vast  mass  of  redeemed  ones  ;  and  in  their  recov- 
ery from  sin  and  everlasting  death,  in  their  homage  and  obe- 
dience, in  their  enraptured  perception  of  his  glory,  in  their 
reflection  of  his  glorious  image,  and  in  their  exaltation  to  partake 
of  his  celestial  bliss  and  glory,  He  shall  in  the  highest  sense  be 
glorified. 


